SA 2008 JOURNEY

BLOEMFONTEIN to MIDDELBURG

After the reunion of Mercia and her brother Gus, and introducing him to Barb and Harry,
Gus guided them to their night quarters in the nearby Acacia Guesthouse, while Mercia did our common laundry.
By that time, Susan had come home from her bankjob, and as soon as Gus returned, the four of us went for dinner
at the spectacular Bloemfontein "Waterkant". We were back home before 22:00 and let Susan go to bed since she had to fly to Joburg early the next morning.
Gus and Mercia and I talked to the wee hours. On Feb 13, my half-birthday, we made bacon and eggs and were picked up
at 09:00 by Harry and Barb in the rental car. We swapped tales about our "independent" previous evening adventures, then
took off for Middelburg and passed along Eeuwfees - about which I still have to write a story..to N1, leading under
underneath swallow-nested overpasses as far as Colesberg where we turned off to visit the mighty Gariep Dam - which
is disappointingly unrecognized on modern SA maps and roadsigns because it was renamed from "Hendrick Verwoerd Dam," after
one of the advocates of "apartheid." Next, we tried and avoided several shortcuts and arrived in
attractive Middelburg by 3 p.m. where I had made Internet reservations in the Karoo Inn, a very fine place
where we enjoyed the meals, drinks, high ceilings, verandahs and atmosphere - leading up to the next day:
February 14, aka "Valentine's Day."